Linda christianson lives with her husband and daughter in a log cabin in the woods about an hour’s drive north of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Since she makes woodfired functional pots, she might seem the epitome of the country potter. But like all the other major figures in “Mingeisota” beginning with Warren MacKenzie, Christianson has too much individuality to be well served by such a label, however clever it may be. She is not one to fetishise woodfiring and her sense of humour is too lively for any espousal of a grand aesthetic mission. In a talk at Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, she insisted that her large ceramic buckets are intended to be functional and might serve as umbrella stands – or boat anchors.